THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


MEMORIAL    ADDRESSES 


LIFE  AND    CHARACTER 


OF 


FRANK    WELCH, 

(A  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  NEBRASKA), 


DELIVERED   IN  THE 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  AND  IN  THE  SENATE, 
FORTY-FIFTH  CONGRESS,  THIRD  SESSION. 


PUBLISHED  BV  ORDER  OF  CONGRESS. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
1879. 


FORTY-FIFTH  CONGRESS,  THIRD  SESSION. 

CONGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  February  27,  1879. 
Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives  (the  Senate  concurring),  That  there  be 
printed  twelve  thousand  copies  of  the  memorial  addresses  delivered  in  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives  upon  the  life  and  character  of  the  late  FRANK 
WELCH,  late  a  Representative  from  the  State  of  Nebraska;  of  which  nine  thou- 
sand shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  House  and  three  thousand  for  the  use  of  the 
Senate. 
Attest : 

GEO.  M.  ADAMS,   Clerk. 


AN  ACT  providing  for  the  engraving  and  printing  of  portraits  to  accompany  memorial 
addresses  on  the  late  Representatives  Leonard,  Quinn,  Welch,  Williams,  Douglas,  Hart- 
ridge,  and  Schleicher. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be,  and  he  is 
hereby,  authorized  and  directed  to  cause  to  be  engraved  and  printed  portraits  of  the 
late  Representatives  Leonard,  Quinn,  Welch,  Williams,  Douglas,  Hartridge,  and 
Schleicher,  to  accompany  memorial  addresses  delivered  in  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  in  honor  of  the  said  deceased  Representatives,  and  to  defray  the 
expenses  thereof  the  necessary  sum  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of  any  money  in  the 
Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  such  sum  to  be  immediately  available. 

Approved,  March  3,  1879. 


fcfcif 


ADDRESSES 

ON   THE 

DEATH  OF  FRANK  WELCH 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE. 


FEBRUARY  19,  1879. 

< 
On  motion  of  Mr.  SAPP,  by  unanimous  consent, 

Ordered,  That  the  memorial  services  in  honor  of  the  late  FRANK 
WELCH,  late  a  Representative  from  the  State  of  Nebraska,  be  held 
to-morrow  evening,  at  the  session  heretofore  ordered  by  the  House. 


FEBRUARY  21,  1879. 

Mr.  MAJORS.     I  offer  the  resolutions  which  I  send  to  the  desk. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  profound  regret  of  the 
death  of  Hon.  FKANK  WELCH,  late  a  Representative  from  the  State 
of  Nebraska. 

Resolved,  That  the  House  do  now  suspend  the  consideration  of 
public  business,  in  order  to  pay  proper  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
lamented  deceased. 

Resolved,  That  in  token  of  regard  for  the  memory  of  the  lamented 
deceased,  the  members  of  this  House  do  wear  the  usual  badge  of 
mourning  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  the  Chief  Clerk  of  the  House  do  communicate  these 
resolutions  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  out  of  further  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased 
this  House  do  now  adjourn. 


ADDRESS    OF    MR.    MAJORS   ON   THE 


ADDRESS    OF    yVlR.    yVlAJORS,    OF    J^EBRASKA. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  September  4, 
1878,  at  Neligh,  Nebraska,  Hon.  FRANK  WELCH  departed  this  life, 
the  victim  of  a  paralytic  stroke.  He  died  in  his  chair,  away  from 
home  and  family.  He  was  surrounded  by  warm  and  dear  friends, 
but  no  wife,  no  relative  was  near  to  utter  words  of  cheer  as  he  passed 
into  the  dark  valley.  More  than  a  year  ago  the  warning  stroke  came, 
which,  while  it  did  not  blast,  yet  so  affected  his  stalwart  frame  that 
he  never  fully  recovered  his  wonted  health  and  vigor. 

Possessing  a  sanguine  disposition,  and  trusting  to  the  recuperative 
energies  of  his  nature,  he  refused  to  spare  himself,  and  entered  upon 
and  continued  his  labors  in  this  body  with  characteristic  'ardor  and 
energy.  When  he  returned  home  last  July  his  changed  appearance 
was  marked  by  his  acquaintances,  and  caused  his  friends  no  little 
anxiety.  It  was  thought  that  the  pure  and  bracing  air  of  his  west- 
ern home,  together  with  needed  rest  and  recreation,  would  bring  back 
the  luster  to  his  cheek  and  restore  vigor  to  his  frame.  But  when  hope 
ran  highest,  when  least  expected,  the  lightning  again  descended  and 
consumed  the  life  that  was  left,  remembering  that — 

'Tis  the  twink  of  an  eye,  'tis  the  draught  of  a  breath, 
From  the  blossom  of  health  to  the  paleness  of  death, 
From  the  gilded  saloon  to  the  bier  and  the  shroud, — 
O,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud ! 

Mr.  WELCH  died  in  the  meridian  of  life,  at  the  period  of  his  great 
usefulness  as  a  citizen  and  public  servant.  With  large  capacity  for 
usefulness;  with  wide,  varied  experience  in  public  affairs,  and  great 
responsibilities  on  his  shoulders,  at  a  time  when  his  influence  was 
sweeping  into  a  broader  arena,  when  the  fervor  of  youth  was  still 
in  his  blood,  the  shadowy  hand  beckoned  him  to  his  journey  across 
the  dark  continent  to  the  land  beyond  the  sun. 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF    FRANK   WELCH. 


In  the  beautiful  and  expressive  language  of  a  former  member  of 
this  body : 

We  complain  that  the  divine  sickle  could  not  wait  for  its  human  harvest  until  the 
whitened  and  bending  heads  should  incline  with  the  weight  of  years  toward  the 
earth  which  was  destined  to  receive  them. 

As  Mr.  WELCH'S  successor  it  becomes  my  duty,  as  his  friend  it  is 
my  privilege,  to  hold  up  to  public  view  the  record  of  a  life  which  has 
in  it  much  that  is  praiseworthy  and  little  that  can  be  censured.  Mr. 
WELCH  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1835.  In  childhood  his  fam- 
ily removed  to  Boston,  where  Mr.  WELCH  received  his  education. 
Adopting  the  profession  of  engineering,  he  came  West  in  1857  to 
assist  in  running  the  line  of  a  projected  railway  across  Iowa,  the  ter- 
minus of  which  was  to  be  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Missouri.  In  1863 
he  married,  in  Boston,  Miss  Elizabeth  Butts,  of  Hudson,  New  York. 
In  the  mean  time  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business,  which  re- 
sulted disastrously.  At  various  times  he  represented  his  section  of 
country  in  the  Territorial  and  State  legislatures,  and  in  1865  was 
president  of  the  upper  house.  In  1871  he  was  appointed  register  of 
the  land  office  at  West  Point,  Nebraska,  which  position  he  held  until 
1876.  In  the  fall  of  1876  his  claims  were  pressed  with  such  enthu- 
siasm by  his  friends  that  he  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Republican 
State  convention  the  nomination  for  member  of  Congress,  and  after 
a  spirited  contest  was  elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

Mr.  WELCH  entered  Congress  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  when  the 
play  of  his  pulse  was  still  healthful,  representing  as  large  an  expanse 
of  country  as  all  New  England,  and  a  population  of  over  three  hun- 
dred thousand.  The  demands  upon  his  time  and  strength  were  in- 
cessant. The  extension  of  the  postal  service  and  keeping  up  the 
efficiency  of  the  Federal  Government  to  a  level  with  the  needs  and 
wants  of  a  growing  State  required  his  constant  attention.  Nebraska 
may  have  had  in  this  body  in  other  days  men  of  greater  talent,  men 
of  broader  culture,  yet  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  of  her  Representa- 


ADDRESS   OF   MR.    MAJORS   ON   THE 


lives  ever  served  her  with  such  fidelity  and  tireless  industry  as  Mr. 
WELCH. 

Mr.  WELCH  was,  indeed,  a  representative  man.  Though  educated 
in  the  Athens  of  America,  yet  he  had  lived  so  long  in  the  West, 
almost  a  quarter  of  a  century,  that  he  might  be  called  a  child  of  the 
prairies.  He  had  stood  by  the  cradle  when  the  young  State  was 
born ;  he  had  grown  with  its  growth ;  his  name  was  in  some  measure 
identified  with  its  greatness.  He  knew  the  needs  and  wants  of  his 
people,  and  was  in  warm  sympathy  with  their  life  and  purposes.  He 
took  a  pride  in  the  State  of  his  adoption,  occupying  the  midway 
position  between  the  far  East  and  the  far  West,  along  which  the  life 
currents  of  immigration  daily  flow.  He  expected  to  see  the  dream 
of  one  of  America's  most  gifted  poets  realized,  "  She  is  the  prairie 
dame,  that  sitteth  in  the  middle  and  looketh  east  and  looketh  west." 
Hence  Mr.  WELCH  was  peculiarly  fitted  to  represent  the  people  of 
my  State  in  the  national  councils.  Had  he  lived,  it  was  the  hope  of 
his  friends,  and  perhaps  his  own  ambition,  that  his  influence  in  pub- 
lic affairs,  which  had  hitherto  been  confined  to  the  limits  of  his  own 
State,  might  sweep  out  into  broader  fields  of  usefulness;  but  "death's 
untimely  frost"  nipped  the  blossoming  hopes  of  his  friends  and  his 
own  budding  aspirations. 

Mr.  WELCH  in  public  life  was  an  eminently  useful  man.  His  in- 
fluence was  a  positive  force  for  good.  He  reached  and  controlled 
men  in  the  most  practical  way.  He  was  no  orator.  He  possessed 
none  of  the  graces  of  oratory  which  captivate  and  conquer  public 
assemblies,  yet  when  the  occasion  was  imperative  he  could  put  his 
thoughts  into  the  traces  of  compact  expression  and  utter  his  ideas 
with  force  and  clearness.  "Many  are  the  friends  of  the  golden 
tongue,"  says  the  Welsh  proverb.  FRANK  WELCH,  however,  had 
many  friends  though  he  did  not  possess  the  golden  tongue  in  the 
sense  used.  Without  marked  ability  for  public  speaking,  without 
great  knowledge  of  that  seasoned  life  of  men  stored  up  in  books, 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER    OF   FRANK   WELCH. 


and  little  of  that  ripe  culture  which  comes  from  meditation  in  the 
closet,  yet  Mr.  WELCH  was  an  influential  man. 

He  had  mingled  with  and  been  jostled  by  men  upon  the  dust-swept 
highway  of  business  life;  he  had  been  in  close  contact  with  those 
extreme  types  of  character  indigenous  to  frontier  life.  He  had  in 
his  earlier  life  known  men  at  the  other  extreme  who  had  been  under 
the  intellectual  sand-paper  too  long,  and  he  had  thereby  acquired  that 
practical  talent,  that  ready  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  which  reaches 
and  controls  men  and  often  achieves  success  when  a  higher  talent 
fails. 

Mr.  WELCH  in  private  life  was  an  exemplary  man.  He  enjoyed 
life  with  the  keenest  zest.  While  he  lived  laborious  days,  yet  he  did 
not  scorn  delights  of  life.  Mr.  WELCH  was  a  man  of  fine  social 
powers;  there  was  a  genial  magnetism  in  his  presence,  a  certain 
heartiness  in  his  greeting,  a  frankness  and  openness  of  manner  that 
attracted  men. 

It  was  said  of  the  late  Lord  Holland  that  he  always  came  down  to 
breakfast  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  had  just  met  with  some  signal 
good  fortune.  Mr.  WELCH  possessed  a  like  sunny  disposition  over 
which  the  clouds  of  gloom  rarely  if  ever  settled. 

But  it  was  in  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  home  circle  that  his  social 
nature  shone  with  the  pure  luster.  It  was  there  that  he  gave  utter- 
ance to  the  best  thoughts  of  his  best  soul,  and  gave  full  play  to  the 
kindly  emotions  of  the  heart.  Upon  his  hearth-stone  the  fires  of  do- 
mestic happiness  always  burned  brightly.  In  his  home,  where  peace, 
love,  and  happiness  were  enthroned,  he  found  both  an  incentive  to 
his  ambition  and  rest  from  his  exciting  public  labors. 

But  the  seal  of  death  has  been  placed  upon  his  life  before  it  had 
attained  the  ripeness  of  age.  The  reed  has  been  broken  by  an  un- 
timely wind.  A  useful  man,  an  active  and  vigilant  public  servant, 
an  ornament  to  society  has  retreated  from  the  din  and  turmoil  of  life 
to  the  realms  beyond. 


8  ADDRESS   OF    MR.    SAPP   ON   THE 

It  remains  for  us  to  move  upon  the  stream  of  being  as  if— 

'Tis  not  all  of  life  to  live, 

so  that  when  the  inevitable  hour  comes  we  shall  find  that — 
'Tis  not  all  of  death  to  die. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVlR.    J3APP,    OF    JoWA. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  In  the  death  of  Hon.  FRANK  WELCH,  to  whose 
memory  I  would  to-day  pay  a  brief  tribute,  we  are  called  upon  to 
mourn  the  loss  of  a  truly  good  man.  When  we  met  in  this  Hall  at 
the  beginning  of  this  session  of  Congress  I  am  sure  the  thought  was 
present  to  each  of  us  that  one  of  our  number  was  not  here,  that  one 
seat  had  been  made  vacant,  and  it  was  then  as  now  hard  to  realize 
that  one  so  young,  so  full  of  hope  and  honorable  ambition  when  we 
separated  a  few  short  months  before,  had  crossed  that  narrow  line 
that  divides  time  from  eternity,  and  that  his  youthful  form  and  face 
would  be  seen  by  us  no  more  forever.  It  is  proper  that  this  House 
suspend  its  deliberations  upon  public  affairs  at  this  time  that  we  may 
offer  fitting  and  appropriate  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  so  recently 
associated  with  us. 

It  was  my  privilege,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  know  Mr.  WELCH  long  and 
well.  I  met  him  first  in  the  year  1860,  when,  a  wanderer  from  my 
old  Ohio  home  in  search  of  health,  I  found  the  home  of  my  adoption 
on  the  green  prairies  of  the  West.  In  the  intervening  years  a  kind 
Providence  has  permitted  me  to  form  many  warm  friendships,  but 
there  are  none  I  recall  more  fondly  than  his.  It  is  not  my  purpose 
now  to  speak  in  detail  of  the  life  and  character  of  our  lamented  friend, 
though  his  short  career  furnishes  much  for  a  lengthy  eulogy.  His 
most  prominent  characteristics  were,  I  think,  sound  discretion,  clear 
discernment,  good  common-sense,  great  honesty  of  purpose,  and 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF    FRANK    WELCH. 


indomitable  energy,  and  I  believe  had  he  been  permitted  to  pass 
through  the  vicissitudes  of  a  long  life  he  would  have  met  and  man- 
fully fulfilled  all  the  duties  allotted  to  him.  He  inspired  all  who 
knew  him  with  confidence  in  his  honesty,  integrity,  and  honor,  and 
compelled  the  concession  that  he  was  both  just  and  generous. 
Guided  by  his  high  sense  of  justice,  his  reasoning  faculties  rarely 
failed  him  in  the  attainment  of  truth,  which  was  with  him  the  con- 
trolling principle  in  both  public  and  private  life.  He  was,  doubtless, 
not  without  a  commendable  desire  for  worldly  distinction ;  but  that 
desire  was  always  subordinate  to  his  convictions  of  right.  With  these 
admirable  endowments  were  happily  blended  the  kindlier  affections 
of  the  heart  that  endeared  him  to  his  friends,  and  made  him  in  pri- 
vate life  the  valuable  citizen,  the  affectionate  husband  and  father, 
and  the  devoted  friend. 

Mr.  WELCH  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  born  on  the 
historic  ground  of  Bunker  Hill,  February  10,  1835,  and  was  there- 
fore at  the  time  of  his  death  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  By 
the  death  of  his  father  in  the  tender  years  of  his  infancy  he  was  left 
to  the  care  of  his  remaining  parent,  who  happily  for  him  was  one  of 
New  England's  most  capable  and  devoted  mothers.  She  survives 
her  lamented  son  and  is  doubtless  comforted  in  her  great  bereave- 
ment that  many  of  her  fondest  hopes  for  him  were  realized  before 
his  early  summons  came.  He  received  his  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  State,  graduating  at  the  high  school  of  Boston. 
He  chose  the  profession  of  civil  engineering,  and  in  this  capacity 
was  intrusted  with  several  important  surveys  in  the  West,  after  which 
he  settled  in  Nebraska,  making  it  his  home  from  1857  until  his  death. 
In  his  new  home  he  held  many  places  of  trust,  among  which  were 
register  of  the  United  States  land  office  and  member  of  the  legisla- 
tive council,  and  by  which  body  he  was  elected  as  its  presiding  offi- 
cer. In  every  station  he  was  called  upon  to  fill  he  was  distinguished 
for  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice. 


2  w 


ADDRESS    OF   MR.    WIGGINTON    ON   THE 


Those  who  sat  with  him  in  the  committee-room  here  will  long  re- 
member the  care  with  which  he  gave  his  counsels  and  the  clearness 
with  which  he  explained  them.  His  fidelity  and  accuracy  were  no- 
where more  manifest. 

But,  sir,  he  has  fallen  almost  at  the  threshold  of  his  career,  and 
while  lamenting  that  the  years  of  one  so  full  of  promise  could  not 
have  been  prolonged,  yet  as  he  never  faltered  by  the  way,  and  has 
left  us  so  much  of  good  example  in  the  work  of  his  short  life  so  well 
and  faithfully  performed,  we  can  scarce  find  it  in  our  hearts  to  repine 
that  he  has  gone  to  his  rest.  We  would  not  again  revive  the  busy 
brain  nor  again  renew  the  throbbing  of  that  large  and  generous  heart; 
we  would  not  disturb  the  repose  in  which  he  sleeps;  but  if  in  the 
solemnity  of  this  call  of  one  whom  many  of  us  knew  so  well  we  can 
rightly  appreciate  what  such  a  dispensation  is  calculated  to  impart, 
if  it  shall  teach  us  to  realize  the  comparative  insignificance  of  earthly 
things,  if  it  shall  enable  us  to  feel  that  this  transitory  life,  this  brief 
sojourn  here  is  but  a  step  in  the  series  of  infinite  existences,  a  mere 
harbor  where  we  furl  our  sails  before  we  launch  upon  the  great  ocean 
of  eternity;  if  we  can  more  justly  estimate  ourselves  and  appreciate 
the  duties  which  each  day  devolve  upon  us,  then  we  shall  have 
learned  from  this  melancholy  event  the  beneficent  lesson  which  in 
the  goodness  of  Divine  Providence  it  was  designed  to  impart. 

For  him,  time  and  earth  have  passed  away ;  he  has  departed  in 
the  meridian  of  his  manhood,  in  the  midst  of  the  glowing  hopes  of  a 
successful  life,  like  a  vigorous  tree  cut  down  in  the  wealth  of  its  sum- 
mer bloom  ere  the  bright  green  of  a  single  leaf  had  been  seared  by 
the  blight  of  autumn. 


ADDRESS  OF  yV\R.  WIGGINTON,  OP   CALIFORNIA. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :    There  is  a  maxim  which  had  struck  its  roots  deep 
into  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men  before  Jesus  Christ  uttered 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER  OF   FRANK  WELCH.  II 

the  divine  charities  on  the  mountains ;  before  the  founders  of  the 
Academy  taught  the  Athenians  the  precepts  of  noble  living ;  before 
Confucius,  far  remote  in  the  denser  obscurities  of  antiquity,  illustrated 
the  civilization  of  his  time  by  the  doctrines  of  peace  on  earth  and 
good-will  to  men  : 

Of  the  dead  speak  nothing  but  good. 

Eulogy  of  the  dead  is  the  consecrated  privilege  and  duty  of  the 
living.  This  venerated  custom  of  the  House  of  Representatives — 
these  appointed  tributes  to  the  memory  of  our  associates  who  go  out 
from  among  us  forever  to  join  the  innumerable  and  eternal  proces- 
sion, are  not  so  shallow  and  artificial  as  to  belong  merely  to  the  dull 
and  spiritless  dignities  of  a  deliberative  assembly.  They  are  not 
rendered  in  obedience  to  the  cold  and  stately  aphorisms  of  philoso- 
phy. They  have  their  source  where  is  the  richest  and  most  exquisite 
nourishment  of  the  virtues  of  human  character — in  the  deeper  sym- 
pathies of  the  human  heart. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  standing  in  the  presence  of  the  dead,  were  the 
sentiment  "  De  nwrtuis  nil  nisi  bonum  "  not  an  imperative  intuition; 
were  it  not  the  common  instinct  of  our  common  nature ;  or  were  this 
the  occasion  for  just  and  exact  or  critical  estimate  of  character  and 
conduct,  I  would  still  be  able  to  speak  of  our  deceased  coworker  and 
fellow-member,  FRANK  WELCH,  nothing  but  good. 

Circumstances  did  not  permit  my  acquaintance  with  Mr.  WELCH 
to  be  that  of  intimate  personal  and  social  relationship.  Amid  the 
very  large  membership  on  this  floor,  and  in  the  responsible  and  en- 
grossing duties  of  his  constituents  which  press  upon  each  of  us  when- 
ever this  House  is  not  in  immediate  session  on  affairs  of  public  serv- 
ice, it  is  possible  for  one  member  to  cultivate  with  few  of  his  fellows 
the  appreciation  of  many  admirable  personal  traits,  and  to  acquire 
with  very  few  of  them  that  closer  insight  into  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart  which  are  developed  in  the  habitual  intercourse  of  friend  with 
friend. 


12  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    WIGGINTON   ON  THE 

But,  sir,  in  the  division  of  labor  which  the  organization  of  this  body 
requires  for  the  accomplishment  of  its  work,  in  the  special  division  of 
duty  to  which  our  brother,  so  startlingly  stricken  from  our  midst, 
was  assigned,  I  knew  him  well.  We  of  the  Committee  of  Public 
Lands  all  knew  him  with  the  most  unhesitating  confidence  in  and 
respect  for  his  character  and  abilities  as  a  man,  and  with  a  most  cor- 
dial regard  inspired  by  his  genial  and  gracious  temper  as  an  associate. 
In  the  brief  course  of  his  parliamentary  career,  if  he  did  not  belong 
to  the  conspicuous  few  who  compel  our  admiration  for  the  brilliant 
intrepidity  and  force,  alertness  and  power  of  intellect  which  achieve 
the  leadership  of  tumultuous  debate,  he  had  yet  taken  his  assured 
place  among  those  who  are  marked  for  sturdy  independence  and 
self-reliance  of  thought,  conscientious  inquiry  for  truth,  and  a  high 
standard  of  determination  and  action,  qualities  scarcely  less  valuable, 
though  less  resplendent,  in  him  who  serves  the  people  in  this  Hall. 

FRANK  WELCH  came  from  one  of  the  farther  Western  States,  and 
in  him  was  exemplified  that  strong  type  of  manhood,  courageous 
without  display,  inflexible  but  kindly,  which  belongs  to  the  people 
who  have  prepared  that  vast  territory  lying  midway  of  the  continent 
to  be  the  seat  of  political  empire  in  this  great  Union  of  States.  It  is 
there  where  exists  the  most  powerful  identity  of  interest  between  the 
different  sections  of  the  Republic ;  it  is  there  where  is  the  greatest 
homogeneity,  the  closest  amalgamation  of  the  varying  classes  of 
American  character;  and  there  the  American  people  find  themselves 
most  kindred.  Within  that  great  region  the  Pacific  coast  holds  its 
fraternal  clasp  with  the  Atlantic  borders;  through  its  coalescing 
power  the  South  roust  be  made  one  with  the  East;  in  the  broad  sweep 
of  that  hardy  and  prolific  interior  are  founded  the  mightiest  and  most 
enduring  columns  which  support  the  Federal  Union.  Our  deceased 
friend  and  brother  was  the  representative  of  a  people  among  whom 
the  love  of  country  is  a  plant  of  native  and  luxuriant  growth ;  a  free 
and  patriotic  people  of  commanding  physical  and  intellectual  strength 


LIFE    AND    CHARACTER   OF    FRANK    WELCH. 


I  have  spoken  his  warmest  praise  when  I  have  said  he  was  fit  to 
represent  such  a  people,  and  that  he  well  and  faithfully  discharged 
his  service  to  them. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  bolt  which  struck  him  down  was  a  calamity  to 
his  household;  of  all  bereavements  the  most  terrible,  because  so  swift 
and  instantaneous.  Within  that  sacred  shrine  of  grief  I  do  not  enter 
but  for  a  moment  with  bowed  head  and  with  sympathy  for  the  sor- 
row thus  denied  the  sad  consolation  of  such  holy  memories  as  sur- 
round the  death-bed  of  husband  and  father.  Upon  us  of  this  Cham- 
ber this  death  fell  with  the  shock  which  for  an  instant  stills  the  pulses 
of  the  living  whenever  death  comes  unheralded  and  unannounced. 
An  hour  ago,  erect  and  vigorous  manhood,  warm  life,  sanguine 
health !  Now,  the  prostrate  form  rigid  in  the  embrace  of  death ! 
Suddenly,  in  one  moment,  the  grim  monster  stalks  within  this  Cham- 
ber— has  come,  has  passed,  has  gone !  Who  next  ? 

Why  do  I  allude  to  these  things  ?  Why  in  pronouncing  some  brief 
words  of  tribute  to  the  honorable  memory  of  our  departed  friend  and 
brother  to  be  engrafted  on  the  records  of  this  body  of  which  he  was 
an  able  and  earnest  member,  do  I  suggest  these  reflections  on  the 
manner  of  his  death  ?  Because,  sir,  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  ap- 
proaching the  following  thought  with  that  awe  and  reverence  which 
it  befits  mortals  to  feel  when  they  contemplate  that  which  lies  be- 
yond this  life.  This  so  swift  taking-off — this  so  sudden  plunge  even 
into  the  solemn  mysteries  which  lie  within  the  veil  that  hides  eternity 
from  mortal  vision — is  it  to  him  for  whom  the  message  conies  the 
least  acceptable  of  all  forms  of  death?  I  venture  to  think  not.  The 
ordeal  must  once  be  passed.  A  painless  death  is  most  to  be  desired. 
To  die  even  while  the  senses  are  yet  keen  and  the  physical  and 
mental  powers  able  to  participate  with  energy  in  the  active  duties 
and  engagements  of  life  is  not  a  thought  so  repulsive  that  men  should 
shrink  from  it  with  dread. 

Intense  suffering  may  break  down  the  will  and  repress  the  courage 


ADDRESS   OF    MR.    PATTERSON    ON   THE 


of  brave  men,  but  the  certain  prospect  of  death  often  inspires  with 
fortitude,  something  of  that  fortitude  and  constant  purpose  of  mind 
which  distinguished  a  chieftain  known  to  fame  wherever  Scottish 
annals  are  read.  Dying,  the  Bruce  willed  that  his  heart  should  be 
borne  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  holy  sepulcher,  and  to  Douglas  he  in- 
trusted the  execution  of  this  religious  command.  In  a  southern 
defile  that  Scottish  chieftain,  accompanied  by  a  small  band  of  retain- 
ers of  his  own  household,  encountered  a  dense  mass  of  hostile  spears. 
To  cut  through  that  deep  array  not  even  Douglas  might  hope.  But 
flight  or  retreat  he  scorned.  Halting  for  the  charge,  he  unslung  from 
his  neck  the  golden  casket  which  contained  the  relic  of  his  dead  sov- 
ereign, and  hurling  it  far  over  the  outermost  ranks  of  the  enemy,  his 
mighty  voice  rang  out  as  with  the  slogan  of  bloody  Bannockbawn — 

Go !  heart  of  Bruce,  as  was  thy  wont,  into  the  very  center  of  thy  foes,  and 
Douglas  follow ! 

Our  deceased  brother  possessed  the  noble  characteristics  of  that 
chieftain  who  courted  death  in  the  performance  of  his  promises  and 
duty,  as  our  brother  met  it.  Could  I  say  more  ?  His  memory  must 
ever  be  cherished  by  those  who  knew  him — most  by  those  who  knew 
him  best.  He  lived  so  that  he  could  meet  death  with  all  its  conse- 
quences, as  he  did  meet  it,  without  notice.  Would  that  all  of  us 
may  so  live. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVi.R.     PATTERSON,    OF 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  I  cannot  but  feel  sad  when  I  realize  that  death  has 
stricken  down  in  the  vigor  of  manhood  a  steadfast  friend.  Between 
the  departed  and  myself  there  were  ties  that  could  not  well  exist  be- 
tween others.  We  stood  upon  this  floor  representing  States  whose 
borders  joined,  and  each  was  without  a  colleague  from  his  common- 


LIFE    AND    CHARACTER    OF    FRANK    WELCH.  15 

wealth  to  whom  he  could  look  for  aid  or  sympathy  in  hours  of  trial. 
The  history  of  our  two  States  was  almost  a  common  one.  Beyond 
the  Missouri,  within  the  mauhood  of  the  youngest  member  of  this 
body,  they  have  been  seized  from  countless  ages  of  silence  and 
vacancy,  and  by  the  same  class  of  people,  exercising  like  courage, 
enduring  like  hardships,  meeting  and  conquering  like  dangers,  have 
been  placed  in  the  group  of  State  republics  that  make  up  the  model 
government  of  the  world. 

Upon  several  occasions  we  had  conversed  upon  the  phenomena  pre- 
sented in  the  representation  of  our  States  in  the  American  Congress. 
In  the  less  numerous  body,  representing  the  autonomy  and  equality 
of  the  States,  these  two  younger  sisters  of  the  Republic  were  upon  an 
equality  with  the  oldest  and  greatest  in  the  family;  while  in  the 
greater  body,  representing  the  people,  where  greater  difficulties  are  in 
the  way  of  the  individual  member,  they  were  accorded  but  one  Rep- 
resentative. Many  times,  after  we  had  been  struggling  before  the 
committee  or  upon  the  floor  for  recognition  of  our  needs  and  a  con- 
cession of  our  rights,  have  we  deplored  to  each  other  the  small  re- 
turns for  our  efforts  so  largely  owing  to  the  lack  of  strength  which  a 
numerous  delegation  gives  to  each  member  of  it. 

I  never  met  Mr.  WELCH  to  know  him  until  the  second  session  of 
this  Congress.  It  was  after  I  was  assigned  to  the  Committee  on 
Public  Lands  that  our  association  commenced;  and  in  the  intimacy 
which  committee  duties  beget  I  learned  to  admire  the  plain  and  strong 
manhood  of  the  Representative  from  Nebraska.  He  was  one  of  the 
few  men  of  sterling  merit,  with  sturdy  and  sensible  views  upon  every 
public  subject,  with  a  vigorous  individuality,  who  are  content  to  allow 
an  entire  Congress  to  pass  without  claiming  the  attention  of  the 
House  beyond  the  few  minutes  necessary  for  the  explanation  of  some 
particular  measure  vital  to  their  constituency. 

In  the  committee-room  his  store  of  knowledge  and  clear  views  upon 
every  phase  of  every  question  pertaining  to  our  public  lands  made 


1 6  ADDRESS    OF    MR.    PATTERSON   ON    THE 

him  an  oracle  to  us  all.  Educated  as  a  civil  engineer,  serving  for 
several  years  as  a  register  of  a  land  district  in  Nebraska,  having  trav- 
ersed the  plains,  the  mountains,  the  parks  and  valleys  of  the  vast 
interior  of  our  continent,  none  was  more  qualified  to  advise  upon  any 
question  pertaining  to  them.  This  fact  every  member  of  our  com- 
mittee recognized;  and  if  the  measures  which  have  passed  into  laws 
through  the  portals  of  our  committee-room  could  speak,  they  would 
tell  of  his  skillful  workmanship  upon  every  line. 

I  met  him  last  at  the  city  of  Omaha,  on  his  way  to  his  home  at  the 
close  of  the  last  session.  He  had  preceded  me  by  several  days,  and 
when  I  joined  him  he  was  buoyant  with  the  anticipations  of  the 
future.  His  desire  had  been  to  be  returned  to  the  next  Congress. 
Aspirants  for  his  place  had  arisen  during  his  absence,  and  before 
reaching  Omaha  he  feared  some  one  of  them  might  be  successful; 
but  when  we  met  that  fear  had  vanished.  In  recognition  of  his  val- 
ued services  all  competition  had  retired,  and  he  felt  assured  of  the 
coveted  renomination  without  opposition.  After  we  separated,  the 
heat  and  absorption  of  the  political  campaign  stopped  communica- 
tion. During  it  he  passed  from  earth,  called  by  a  voice  that  must  be 
heeded,  and  that  will  reach  the  ears  of  us  all  only  too  soon. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  can  truly  say  that  I  loved  FRANK  WELCH  as  sin- 
cerely as  I  ever  loved  one  whom  I  had  known  for  so  short  a  time. 
He  was  a  true  type  of  the  moral  and  heroic  man.  Without  brill- 
iancy; laying  no  claim  to  forensic  power;  with  nothing  but  his  worth, 
his  pluck,  his  energy,  his  moral  uprightness,  and  recognized  devotion 
to  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  his  State,  he  was  chosen  by  them  as 
their  Representative  in  the  American  Congress,  and  he  was  in  truth 
the  representative  of  all  the  manly  virtues  that  have  made  his  con- 
stituency men  among  men  the  wide  world  over.  The  commonwealth 
of  Nebraska  may  send  men  of  greater  talent  to  this  Hall;  such  may 
in  the  future  give  to  her  the  fame  that  Clay  has  given  to  Kentucky 
or  Webster  to  Massachusetts,  but  she  will  never  send  a  Representa- 


LIFE    AND    CHARACTER   OF    FRANK   WELCH.  17 

tive  with  more  sincere  convictions,  a  higher  standard  of  manhood, 
or  a  greater  devotion  to  his  public  duties  than  were  possessed  by 
FRANK  WELCH,  the  man  to  whose  memory  this  House  to-night  pays 
tribute. 


ADDRESS    OF      M.R.    TlPTON,    OF     ILLINOIS. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  I  desire  to  add  my  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory 
of  FRANK  WELCH,  and  to  unite  my  sympathy  with  that  of  the  people 
of  Nebraska,  who  moura  the  loss  of  a  true  citizen  and  Representative. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  extra  session  of  this  Congress  Mr.  WELCH  was 
to  me  a  stranger.  I  soon,  however,  formed  his  acquaintance,  and 
from  that  time  until  his  death  we  were  true  friends.  Mr.  WELCH  was 
modest  and  unassuming  in  his  manners,  and  I  apprehend  that  he 
formed  but  few  acquaintances  during  his  service  in  this  House.  By 
reference  to  the  Congressional  Record  of  the  first  session  of  this  Con- 
gress we  find  that  he  was  elected  to  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  from  the 
State  of  Nebraska  as  a  Republican,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  he 
would  have  been  re-elected  to  the  Forty-sixth  Congress  had  he  not 
been  stricken  down  in  death.  Mr.  WELCH  was  comparatively  a 
young  man;  he  was  full  of  promise  and  full  of  hope. 

Born  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in  early  life  he  took  the  advice 
of  a  great  statesman  and  went  West,  settling  in  the  Territory  of  Ne- 
braska. He  loved  his  people,  and  the  great  aim  of  his  political  life 
seemed  to  be  how  best  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the 
State  that  he  had  the  honor  to  represent.  He  was  liberal  in  his  views, 
yet  firm  for  the  right  as  he  understood  the  right.  His  many  virtues 
and  acts  endeared  him  to  all  who  became  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
him.  Just  at  the  close  of  the  last  session  I  had  a  long  talk  with  him 
about  his  State  and  the  labor  of  representing  and  looking  after  the 
interests  of  an  entire  State  embracing  such  a  vast  territory  and  such 
varied  interests,  and  it  is  to  the  constant  strain  upon  his  mind  and 


1 8  ADDRESS   OF   MR.   TIPTON   ON  THE 

the  constant  fear  that  something  would  be  left  undone  which  ought 
to  be  done  that  I  attribute,  at  least  in  part,  his  death. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  think  I  may  truly  say  that  Mr.  WELCH  was  a  model 
man  in  many  respects.  In  his  motives  and  purposes  in  political  life 
we  read  the  advanced  interests  of  a  common  country,  and  in  his  pri- 
vate life  a  kind  husband,  father,  and  neighbor.  To  some  extent  I 
was  familiar  with  his  purposes  and  hopes,  and  to  say  that  he  was  not 
ambitious  would  be  untrue;  but,  on  the  contrary,  his  great  ambition 
was  to  represent  his  State  with  honor  to  the  State  and  credit  to  him- 
self. He  loved  liberty,  and  believed  that  it  could  be  best  maintained 
by  sound  and  wholesome  laws  judiciously  enacted. 

Mr.  WELCH  was  not  a  man  to  become  excited;  he  was  careful,  calm, 
and  deliberate  in  all  his  purposes. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  shall  ever  cherish  with  pride  my  recollections  of  and 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  WELCH,  and  shall  ever  remember  him  as  a 
true  friend;  and  by  a  true  friend  I  mean  a  man  who  is  willing  and 
in  fact  anxious  to  assist  his  friends  at  all  times  and  under  all  circum- 
stances. FRANK  WELCH  loved  liberty  and  hated  oppression  in  all 
its  forms,  and  in  this  he  was  the  fit  representative  of  the  pioneer 
people  who  in  behalf  of  freedom  settled  the  Territory  of  Nebraska. 

I  believe  had  he  lived  that  his  services  would  have  been  of  great 
value  to  the  people  of  his  State.  But  FRANK  WELCH  is  no  more — 
stricken  down  in  death  in  the  very  prime  of  life  and  the  early  morn- 
ing of  his  usefulness.  It  is  well  known  by  members  upon  this  floor 
that  a  new  member  of  this  House  quiet  and  unassuming  as  was  Mr. 
WELCH  can  make  but  little  public  demonstration  at  the  first  session 
or  in  fact  in  the  first  Congress,  and  that  during  the  first  session  at 
least  he  would  form  but  few  acquaintances,  and  for  this  reason  I  feel 
that  many  members  upon  this  floor  did  not  form  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  him  during  his  service  as  a  member  of  this  House;  yet  I 
think  I  may  safely  say  that  those  who  did  form  his  acquaintance 
regarded  him  as  a  high-minded  and  an  accomplished  gentleman. 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF   FRANK   WELCH.  19 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  number  of  deaths  in  this  Congress  has  been  the 
subject  of  comment  and  newspaper  articles  all  over  the  land,  yet  we 
heed  it  not.  Members  come  and  go  from  this  Capitol  with  the  same 
unconcern  that  they  would  if  death  was  unknown  in  the  Republic. 
The  world  simply  notes  the  fact.  The  death  of  Mr.  Morton  and  of 
Mr.  Bogy,  two  distinguished  members  of  the  Senate,  and  seven 
members  of  this  House — Quinn,  WELCH,  Leonard,  Williams,  Douglas, 
Hartridge,  and  Schleicher — at  the  close  of  this  Congress  will  have 
passed  into  history.  Their  public  services,  however,  have  made  an 
impress  upon  the  country  that  will  not  be  forgotten.  The  death-roll 
of  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  will  ever  be  remembered  by  us  as  one 
remarkable  in  the  world's  history.  It  is  but  the  repetition  of  the 
lesson  that  death  is  no  respecter  of  persons  or  position  in  life. 

The  great  harvester  comes  and  reaps  withersoever  he  will.  One 
generation  passes  away  and  in  quick  succession  another  follows.  One 
man  dies  and  another  is  ready  to  take  his  place.  Thus  in  quick  suc- 
cession does  generation  follow  generation,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to 
discern  the  dividing  line  between  the  present  and  the  past  or  the 
present  and  the  future. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  regard  as  the  most  wonderful  fact  in  all  nature  that 
it  is  not  vouchsafed  to  man  to  know  when,  how,  or  under  what  cir- 
cumstances he  will  meet  death.  There  is  not  a  man  in  all  this  Re- 
public who,  if  he  knew  that  within  a  certain  number  of  years  from 
this  time  he  must  meet  death,  would  not,  to  some  extent  at  least, 
determine  to  change  his  habits  of  life.  Yet  we  know  the  fact  that 
all  men  must  die,  and  that  many  like  Mr.  WELCH  will  be  stricken 
down  in  the  prime  of  their  manhood  almost  without  warning. 

On  coming  to  this  Capitol  we  behold,  on  Pennsylvania  avenue,  a 
funeral  procession.  We  stop  a  moment  and  inquire,  "  Who  is  dead  ?  " 
We  are  told  by  a  passer-by ;  we  again  pause  a  moment  and  wonder 
at  its  magnificence  and  grandeur,  and  pass  on.  And  before  we  reach 
this  Capitol  the  fact  is  blotted  from  our  memories,  only  to  be  recalled 


ADDRESS   OF    MR.    TIPTON    ON   THE 


by  the  recollection  of  the  magnificence  of  the  procession.  Again 
and  again  are  we  reminded  that  death  is  in  the  land,  but  we  heed 
it  not. 

That  terrible  scourge  known  as  yellow  fever  during  the  past  sum- 
mer converted  great  commercial  cities  into  cities  of  mourning.  Mov- 
ing commerce  upon  the  streets  gave  way  to  the  funeral  procession. 
Almost  one-half  of  this  the  fairest  land  on  earth  was  dressed  in 
mourning.  But  a  few  months  have  passed  away,  yet  I  fear  this  ter- 
rible lesson  is  fast  fading  in  our  memories.  And  when  this  generation 
shall  have  passed  away,  the  fact  will  be  read  and  known  only  by  the 
student  of  medicine  or  the  historian. 

The  death-roll  of  this  Congress  is  confined  to  no  locality  in  the 
Republic,  but  on  the  contrary  it  reaches  from  the  Hudson  to  the  Rio 
Grande.  Nine  States  of  this  Republic  are  in  mourning  for  the  loss 
of  distinguished  men,  and  the  nation  mourns  the  loss  of  "the  combined 
efforts  for  good  of  these  men  who  have  passed  away.  The  great  reaper, 
in  the  selection  of  his  own,  seems  to  have  selected  the  noble  ones  of 
the  assembled  Representatives  of  the  people.  It  is  fitting  that  we, 
the  members  of  this  Congress,  shall  ever  cherish  in  our  memories  the 
kindest  feelings  for  those  who  have  died  since  its  organization. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  in  this  spirit  that  the  Constitution  throws  its  pro- 
tecting shield  around  the  home  of  every  man  in  the  land.  It  is  in  this 
spirit  that  the  Constitution  binds  the  graves  of  these  fallen  Repre- 
sentatives under  one  flag  and  one  government.  It  is  this  spirit  that 
it  is  hoped  will  bind  together  the  people  of  the  Republic  by  a  tie 
stronger  than  acts  of  Congress  or  constitutions.  It  is  in  this  spirit 
that  we  hope  to  conform  legislation  of  the  country  to  the  deliberate 
judgment  of  the  people.  It  was  this  that  FRANK  WELCH  hoped  for. 
While  it  is  true  that  he  did  not  live  to  see  all  accomplished  that  he 
desired,  yet  I  believe  he  did  live  to  see  the  commencement  of  the 
new  era,  the  adjustment  of  all  legislation  to  the  demands  and  neces- 
sities of  the  people.  It  is  my  belief,  as  it  was  that  of  Mr.  WELCH, 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF    FRANK   WELCH. 


that  we  have  reached  a  period  in  human  progress  when  just  and  hu- 
mane laws,  honestly  and  fairly  enforced,  will  meet  the  approval  of  the 
people  in  every  part  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  neither  states  nor 
republics  are,  in  the  long  run,  ungrateful.  I  believe  that  in  this  coun- 
try, sooner  or  later,  in  all  cases,  merit  will  receive  its  reward.  In  the 
case  of  FRANK  WELCH  it  has  been  prompt.  To-day  Nebraska 
awards  to  him  the  honor  of  approval  of  his  official  acts,  and  the 
nation  to-day  tenders  to  his  widow  and  children  by  these  memorial 
services  the  heart-felt  sympathy  of  the  nation. 

I  desire  to  place  upon  record  to  go  down  to  history  my  judgment 
that  he  was  one  of  the  good  men  of  this  land;  that  every  purpose, 
every  object  of  his  life  was  for  the  good  of  the  people;  that  he  had 
no  motive,  no  purpose  which  in  his  judgment  would  injure  any  man 
on  the  face  of  this  earth,  but  on  the  contrary  his  life  was  devoted  to 
the  good  of  all. 

While,  as  I  said  a  moment  ago,  the  Congressional  Directory  gives 
us  no  information  as  to  any  official  positions  that  he  held  prior  to  his 
election  to  this  House,  yet  I  am  advised  that  he  had  held  important 
official  positions  in  the  Territory  of  Nebraska.  I  apprehend  that  the 
judgment  of  all  who  knew  FRANK  WELCH  is  that  he  was  the  noblest 
work  of  God — an  honest  man. 


ADDRESS    OF    y&R.    p<DNGER,    OF    ^MICHIGAN. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  find  I  have  the  op- 
portunity, although  unexpected,  to  join  on  this  occasion  with  my 
colleagues  in  paying  a  brief  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  one 
of  our  members  who  came  among  us  for  a  short  time  and  made  him- 
self known  to  us  in  these  halls  during  that  brief  period  as  a  sterling, 
energetic,  and  faithful  member  of  this  House. 


22  ADDRESS  OF  MR.  CONGER  ON  THE 

It  was  my  fortune  during  most  of  the  time  that  he  was  a  member 
here  to  occupy  a  seat  in  the  Hall  so  near  him  that  I  could  observe 
the  whole  course  of  his  Congressional  life  upon  this  floor.  He  was  a 
constant  attendant  upon  the  sessions  of  this  body.  He  was  faith- 
ful in  season  and  out  of  season  in  the  performance  of  all  the  duties 
which  might  be  required  of  a  member  of  this  House. 

When  I  parted  with  him  at  the  close  of  the  session  prior  to  his 
death  I  little  thought  that  he,  so  young,  apparently  so  vigorous,  so 
full  of  life  and  hope  and  ambition,  moderated  as  it  was  by  his  innate 
modesty,  would  be  the  first  to  be  called  from  our  number  to  go  down 
to  the  silent  halls  of  death. 

I  knew  little  of  our  friend's  history.  He  was  not  communicative 
of  his  own  personal  history  and  of  his  own  personal  desires  or  ambi- 
tion. I  learned  that  he  was  born  in  New  England,  and  passed  his 
youthful  days  in  that  city  of  our  Union  which  claims  for  itself  the 
highest  rank  in  literary  and  scientific  culture;  that  while  young,  just 
entering  upon  the  active  duties  of  life,  pursuing,  as  I  understand,  his 
occupation  of  engineering,  he  passed  from  that  Athens  of  America 
out  westward  and  westward,  crossing  rivers,  crossing  States,  going  far 
on,  seeking  his  home  and  a  place  for  the  development  of  his  genius. 
The  scene  of  his  labors  was  in  a  new  State,  twenty  years  ago,  per- 
haps then  a  Territory,  in  which  there  were  few  comforts  or  luxuries 
or  refinements  of  life;  a  country  then  traversed  in  part  by  savage 
tribes;  a  territory  over  which  roamed  the  buffalo  in  immense  herds, 
as  yet  unscared  by  the  presence  of  man.  To  such  a  region  our  young 
friend,  in  his  ambition  and  his  hope,  went  to  find  a  home  for  himself. 
In  a  new  land,  amid  scenes  stretching  out  upon  the  broad  plains  of 
Nebraska,  beyond  the  Mississippi,  beyond  the  Missouri,  he  sought 
his  home. 

Sir,  if  there  be  anything  that  is  grateful  to  my  mind  in  looking  over 
the  institutions  of  my  beloved  land,  it  is,  that  whatever  may  be  the 
rank  or  sphere  of  life  in  which  one  is  born,  under  whatever  circum- 


LIFE    AND    CHARACTER   OF    FRANK    WELCH.  23 

stances  his  early  life  may  have  begun,  the  goddess  of  these  institu- 
tions takes  every  youth  by  the  hand,  gives  him  education,  gives  him 
hope,  gives  him  courage,  gives  him  emulation,  and,  above  all,  gives 
him  the  example  of  a  long  and  splendid  line  of  illustrious  men,  from 
the  very  beginning  of  our  government  down  to  the  present  time,  who 
like  himself  enjoyed  no  advantages  of  birth  or  education,  no  assist- 
ance of  powerful  and  influential  friends,  but  who  have  had  solely  the 
surrounding  influences  of  these  free  institutions  of  our  land,  which 
extend  to  the  humblest  and  the  poorest  the  same  help  that  they  ex- 
tend to  the  wealthiest  and  the  mightiest  among  us.  These  institu- 
tions bid  the  youth  enter  on  that  royal  highway  which  education, 
which  industry,  which  patient  seeking  may  find  out — that  royal  road 
to  the  hearts  of  his  fellow-men,  to  distinction  among  them  to  office 
if  office  be  his  desire,  to  wealth  if  wealth  be  his  ambition,  to  the 
means  of  doing  good  to  his  fellow-men  if  to  do  good  to  his  fellow- 
men  be  within  his  heart.  It  is  these  institutions  of  our  country  that 
enable  every  child  of  the  land  to  rise,  if  he  will,  to  usefulness,  to  emi- 
nence, to  high  positions  of  trust,  to  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his 
fellow-men,  as  by  far  the  larger  number  of  our  most  distinguished 
statesmen,  civilians,  and  lawyers  have  risen  by  the  aid  of  these  insti- 
tutions from  poverty  and  obscurity  to  fill  the  most  honored  places 
within  the  gift  of  the  nation. 

Mr.  WELCH  was  an  example  of  the  beneficial  effects  of  such  insti- 
tutions and  such  training.  To  him  it  mattered  not  whether  he 
remained  in  the  State  of  his  birth,  surrounded  with  luxuries,  sur- 
rounded with  culture,  surrounded  with  all  that  could  excite  emulation 
and  ambition  in  his  heart,  or  whether  he  went  off  to  the  broad  prairie 
as  the  field  of  his  labor,  or  to  the  great  forest  as  the  scene  of  his  toil. 
It  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that  going  off  into  a  far-off  land,  and  as 
I  have  learned  going  there  a  stranger  with  no  one  to  uphold  him,  to 
introduce  him,  to  push  on  his  fortunes,  he  gained  so  far  the  good-will, 
the  kindly  feeling,  the  confidence  of  all  the  people  of  that  Territory 


24  ADDRESS  OF  MR.  CONGER  ON  THE 

that  they  promoted  him  to  places  of  honor  and  of  trust,  that  they 
reposed  in  this  young  man  a  confidence  which  is  rarely  reposed  in 
older,  wiser,  and  more  experienced  men. 

I  have  met  many  people  of  that  State ;  I  have  seen  them  here  and 
met  them  elsewhere,  and  I  never  have  heard  any  other  expression  of 
sentiment  from  any  with  whom  I  have  been  acquainted  than  that 
FRANK  WELCH,  their  Representative  in  Congress,  had  the  high  es- 
teem, the  absolute  confidence,  and  the  kindest  regards  of  all  the 
people  of  that  State. 

Sir,  Mr.  WELCH  did  not  occupy  in  this  House  a  position  which 
some  covet ;  a  position  of  strife,  and  antagonism,  and  ambition  to 
lead  or  to  oppose.  But  his  position  was  that  of  a  patient,  earnest, 
pains-taking  worker — laborious,  as  I  have  been  informed,  in  commit 
tee,  in  the  examination  of  all  questions  submitted  to  him;  earnest, 
as  we  all  know,  in  every  matter  affecting  the  interests  of  the  constit- 
uency he  so  ably  represented.  I  think,  sir,  that  amid  all  the  disputes 
and  wranglings  within  this  Hall  there  is  no  member  of  this  House 
that  ever  did  or  ever  could  entertain  for  a  moment  one  unkind 
thought,  ever  did  or  ever  could  speak  one  unkind  word,  of  our  de- 
parted friend  for  anything  and  all  things  which  he  did  or  neglected 
to  do  in  these  halls.  How  few  of  us  can  say  that  of  ourselves !  How 
few  of  us  deserve  that  it  should  be  said  of  us  by  others! 

Mr.  Speaker,  our  friend  Mr.  WELCH,  whatever  he  may  have  failed 
to  do,  however  his  ambition  may  not  have  reached  its  height,  what- 
ever feelings  he  may  have  had  in  his  spiritual  experiences,  could  say 
of  himself  as  Abou  Ben  Adhem  said :  "  Then  write  me  down  as  one 
who  loved  his  fellow-men."  Genial,  warm-hearted,  gentle,  kindly, 
inoffensive,  pleasant,  and  agreeable  in  all  the  relations'of  life,  those 
who  knew  him  were  won  to  him  by  that  loving,  kindly,  generous  na- 
ture of  his.  He  loved  his  fellow-men,  and  his  fellow-men  loved  him; 
and  many  hearts  were  grieved,  almost  startled,  when  the  news  first 
reached  them  that  our  quiet  friend  had  passed  from  among  the  liv- 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF    FRANK   WELCH.  25 

ing  and  was  numbered  with  those  who  had  gone  from  these  halls 
forever. 

I  had  not  expected  to  have  the  opportunity  to  express  my  views 
and  my  sincere  regard  for  our  departed  friend.  Those  who  have 
known  him  through  this  life,  those  who  are  more  intimately  acquainted 
with  his  inner  nature  than  myself,  all  describe  him  in  language  I 
would  like  to  describe  him  in.  All  speak  of  him  in  such  terms  of 
regret  and  kindness  and  affection  as  I  have  felt  for  him,  and  as  I 
should  like  to  describe  my  feelings  in  regard  to  hinTto-night.  I  have 
said  these  things  because  toward  our  friend  I  had  all  these  kindly 
feelings  and  I  would  pay  this  passing  tribute  to  his  memory  as  that 
of  a  friend  to  a  friend. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVlR.    BRIGHT,    OF    ^ENNSYLYANIA. 

We  know  that  moons  shall  wane 
And  summer  birds  from  far  shall  cross  the  sea ; 
But  who  shall  tell  us  when  to  meet  with  death  ? 

Our  deceased  friend  was  a  stranger  to  me  until  I  met  him  in  this 
Chamber.  I  never  knew  him  until  I  knew  him  in  my  relations  with 
him  on  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands.  As  has  already  been  said 
of  him,  he  was  faithful  to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  which  were  in- 
cident to  the  work  which  was  necessary  to  be  done  on  that  commit- 
tee. I  supposed  him  a  man  of  excellent  health ;  I  believed  that  he 
was,  and  in  my  intercourse  with  him  I  never  heard  of  any  complaint 
with  regard  to  any  physical  disability.  But  in  his  youth  he  was  cut 
down ;  and  why  it  is,  sir,  that  men  of  the  physical  strength  and  power 
and  youth  and  manhood  of  our  departed  friend  should  be  called 
hence,  when  men  like  myself,  who  have  reached  their  three  score 
and  ten,  are  permitted  to  live  and  move  on,  is  one  of  the  inscrutable 
things  which  the  providence  of  God  alone  can  reveal. 


4  w 


26  ADDRESS   OF    MR.    WRIGHT    ON   THE 

I  attended,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  memorial  services  of  Henry  Clay. 
They  were  conducted  in  the  Senate  Chamber.  It  was  long  ago.  I 
was  present  at  the  memorial  services  that  occurred  on  the  death  of 
John  Quincy  Adams.  It  was  long  ago.  But  these  men  of  whom  I 
speak  had  reached  the  period  that  revelation  says  is  the  limit  of  men's 
life.  They  were  rich  golden  sheaves  that  the  reaper  gathered  up. 
Their  time  had  come,  and  he  had  a  right  to  exult  in  the  bounty  of 
the  harvest  that  he  had  gathered. 

I  was  in  this  H*ouse,  sir,  when  the  memorial  services  were  bestowed 
on  that  eminent  and  great  man,  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  He,  too,  ac- 
cording to  our  mode  and  method  of  estimation  of  human  life,  went 
before  his  time ;  but  when  he  left  this  earth  a  great  man  had  stepped 
out  of  the  legislative  and  social  relations  of  life,  but  not  so  prema- 
turely as  our  friend  whose  funeral  cortege  we  are  conducting  now. 

I  would  like,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  have  learned  more  with  regard  to 
the  character  of  Mr.  WELCH  than  I  know,  because  in  my  intercourse 
with  him  I  found  him  a  man  possessing  those  traits  of  character 
which  dignify  and  exalt  human  nature — qualities  of  the  heart,  sir, 
that  after  all  is  said  are  the  standard  by  which  we  are  to  estimate 
not  only  human  greatness  but  human  perfection. 

I  stood  in  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress  at  the  same  desk  that  I  am 
speaking  from  now.  A  colleague  of  ours  had  died.  He  was  a 
stranger  to  me.  I  knew  but  little  of  him,  merely  a  speaking,  casual 
acquaintance.  My  associates  requested  me  to  take  part  in  the  pro- 
ceedings which  were  to  be  had  on  that  memorial  occasion.  I  replied 
to  them  that  I  knew  so  little  of  the  man  I  should  not  know  what  to 
state  if  I  rose  to  speak  on  the  occasion.  It  was  remarked,  however, 
that  I  was  the  senior  member  of  the  delegation  from  the  State,  and 
they  expected  me  to  say  something  with  regard  to  the  deceased.  I 
sat  in  my  seat,  reserving  the  privilege  of  concluding  what  had  to  be 
said,  and  during  the  remarks  which  were  made  one  of  my  associates, 
who  had  attended  his  funeral  and  burial,  made  use  of  the  remark 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  FRANK  WELCH.  27 

that  the  town  in  which  he  lived  in  Pennsylvania  had  literally  turned 
out  to  his  funeral.  The  concourse  was  immense ;  men,  women,  and 
children  were  about  the  bier  of  the  dead  man,  and  not  only  that, 
but  there  seemed  to  be  a  general  feeling  of  woe  throughout  the  little 
community  in  which  he  lived.  They  had  all  come  to  pay  the  last 
token  of  regard  to  Dr.  Cooper,  their  Representative  in  Congress, 
who  lay  in  the  coffin  before  them.  Upon  that  hint  I  rose  and  spoke. 
That  furnished  me  with  a  theme,  and  it  gave  rise,  sir,  to  this  train  of 
thought :  that  after  all  we  must  judge  of  a  man's  character  and  the 
excellency  of  his  heart  from  the  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by 
the  people  who  are  about  him  and  with  whom  he  moves  daily.  If 
he  has  endeared  himself  to  the  people  who  were  in  close  proximity 
to  him ;  if  he  has  their  praise  and  their  regards  and  esteem,  that  is 
the  standard  by  which  we  are  to  measure  the  qualities  of  the  human 
heart,  and  esteem  the  human  character.  -~" 

My  friend,  the  eloquent  John  J.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  occupied 
the  third  seat  from  where  I  stand  now  upon  that  memorable  occa- 
sion. After  the  adjournment  of  the  House,  and  in  a  conversation 
with  me,  he  said :  "  My  friend,  you  have  taught  me  an  important 
matter  to-night."  "Ah,  sir;  what  is  that?"  "You  have  fixed  a 
standard  by  which  you  measure  human  perfection,  new  to  me,  but 
which  I  shall  remember  to  the  end  of  my  days." 

Now,  sir,  Mr.  WELCH  was  a  man  who  had  these  amiable  qualities 
which  were  calculated  not  to  repel  but  to  bring  men  to  him.  He 
sympathized  with  his  big  heart  in  the  troubles  and  disasters  and  the 
strange  state  of  things  that  exist  in  the  country  at  this  moment. 

Sir,  in  talking  with  him  upon  the  subject  of  the  distress  of  this  land 
I  have  seen  tears  roll  from  his  eyes,  but  they  were  gems  always  from 
what  you  may  call  the  great  ebullition  that  comes  from  a  full  heart, 
and  from  a  noble,  generous  mind,  and  from  an  exalted  manhood. 

As  has  been  said  of  him,  he  was  not  a  man  who  took  a  prominent 
place  in  conducting  the  affairs  of  this  House  and  the  legislation  that 


28  ADDRESS   OF    MR.    WRIGHT   ON   THE 

was  intrusted  to  him — not  a  prominent  part ;  but,  sir,  he  had  judg- 
ment ;  he  had  discretion ;  and  he  generally  came  to  a  correct  con- 
clusion, as  has  been  already  remarked  by  the  gentlemen  who  have 
preceded  me,  with  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  business  that  he  had 
in  hand. 

He  was  not  great,  but,  sir,  he  was  good.  Greatness  without  good- 
ness is  a  myth. 

A  man  may  be  a  great  statesman ;  he  may  be  a  distinguished  gen- 
eral ;  he  may  have  commanded  armies,  and  may  have  won  triumph- 
ant victories ;  he  may  be  great  as  a  philosopher ;  he  may  be  great 
in  the  various  and  multiplied  pursuits  and  occupations  of  life ;  but  if 
he  does  not  unite  goodness  with  it  he  does  not  come  up  to  my  stand- 
ard of  greatness.  It  is  the  heart  that  heals  the  woes  of  others  that 
makes  a  great  man  in  my  estimation,  in  forming  my  opinion. 

If  men  could  be  great  and  good  as  were  the  two  distinguished 
men  whose  images  grace  the  walls  of  this  Chamber,  who  are  daily 
before  you — great  and  good  like  them,  then  you  may  talk  about 
human  perfection,  about  greatness  that  only  embodies  the  idea  of 
self-elevation,  or  to  occupy  positions  that  shall  command  the  admi- 
ration of  the  world.  That  greatness,  sir,  dwindles  into  insignificance 
and  nothing  compared  with  the  man  of  charitable  emotions  and  of  a 
noble  heart,  that  can  reach  and  take  in  the  whole  woes  of  others. 

Sir,  it  affords  me  great  satisfaction  to  speak  in  the  manner  in  which 
I  do  and  apply  these  great  principles  to  the  modest,  retiring  man 
who  but  yesterday  was  among  us  and  with  us,  but  who  now  has  left 
us  forever.  It  elates  me  to  talk  in  this  way  of  one  of  my  associates. 
I  know  that  his  heart  was  in  the  right  channel;  I  know  that  his  sym- 
pathies reached  the  great  human  family ;  I  know  that  no  man  felt 
more  keenly  the  wants  and  necessities  which  exist  through  this  land 
than  the  man  whose  memorial  services  we  have  met  on  this  occasion 
to  conduct.  So  much  I  learned  with  regard  to  our  colleague  here 
from  an  acquaintance  of  some  four  or  five  months,  but  having  talked 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   FRANK   WELCH.  29 

with  him  familiarly,  and  having  learned  the  bent  of  his  mind,  and 
the  noble,  generous  heart  that  he  possessed — having  learned  these 
things,  you  do  not  know  how  much  I  really  regarded  and  respected 
that  man  while  living;  you  do  not  know  how  much  I  feel  this  loss 
now  that  he  is  dead. 

He  was  not  great  in  the  sense  of  the  word  that  we  consider  great- 
ness. He  was  good  to  a  fault,  and  I  hold  him  up — his  exalted  char- 
acter— I  hold  him  up  with  regard  to  those  kind  qualities  of  heart,  as 
a  man  whose  course  among  us  is  to  be  followed  as  a  model  for  imi- 
tation. 

We  do  not  know  men,  sir,  until  we  come  in  close  contact  with 
them.  There  may  be  many  other  men  who  are  members  in  this  Hall 
who  come  up  to  the  standard  that  I  have  described.  We  do  not 
know  them.  We  come  here  as  party  men,  and  there  is  a  space  of 
some  four  or  five  feet  between  us  that  separates  us.  Will  it  always 
be  so  ?  Is  there  no  millenium — no  political  millenium?  We  come 
here  identified  with  party.  We  form  our  associates  too  often  with 
our  own  party  men,  unless  accident  brings  us  in  close  contact  with 
those  of  the  opposite  party,  as  accident  in  the  line  of  my  official  duty 
here  brought  me  in  contact  with  Mr.  WELCH. 

I  only  wish  I  could  be  brought  more  often  in  contact  with  men 
differing  from  me  in  political  affinities,  if  they  could  be  the  kind  of 
men  that  this  man  who  has  left  us  proved  himself  to  be. 

Now,  sir,  I  have  in  this  desultory  way  thrown  out  some  few  gen- 
eral ideas  of  my  estimate  of  human  character  which  was  eminently 
possessed  by  our  departed  friend.  If  his  life  could  have  been  spared 
it  might  have  been  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  But  who  is  to  say 
that  the  decree  of  God  is  not  right  ?  Who  is  to  take  exceptions  to 
it  ?  Who  is  to  quibble  at  it  ? 

These  things  occur  around  us  daily,  and  we  think  of  them,  per- 
haps, but  not  so  much  as  we  ought.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of 
human  intellect  to  answer  the  inquiries  I  have  made.  It  is  well  that 


30  ADDRESS   OF    MR.    CAIN    ON   THE 

it  is  not  so,  because  otherwise  it  might  produce  effects  that  would  be 
detrimental  not  only  to  the  men  who  live  but  to  the  friends  who  sur- 
round them. 

I  bade  adieu  in  this  Chamber  to  a  friend  who  in  life  was  very  near 
to  me.  I  hope  that  in  the  future  these  Halls  may  be  filled  with  men 
who  possess  the  heart,  who  have  the  ability,  who  have  the  judgment 
that  he  had  who  has  gone  hence  forever.  Peace  to  his  ashes. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVLR.    PAIN,    OF    JSOUTH 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  Four  years  have  passed  since  I  first  entered  this 
Hall.  During  that  time  I  have  listened  with  deep  feeling  to  the 
tributes  paid  here  to  the  many  eminent  men  that  the  insidious  reaper, 
Death,  has  taken  from  our  midst.  It  has  never  been  my  privilege 
until  now  to  utter  a  sentence  or  a  word  in  connection  with  the  de- 
parture of  any  member  of  this  House. 

At  this  time,  however,  I  feel  prompted  to  utter  a  sentiment  in  har- 
mony I  hope  with  the  sentiments  which  have  been  uttered  by  the 
distinguished  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me.  I  come  to  pay  a 
tribute  of  respect  to  the  departed  dead.  I  come  to  mingle  my  sym- 
pathies and,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  so,  the  sympathies  of  my  race 
with  your  sympathies  for  the  bereavements  which  this  House  of  Con- 
gress has  suffered,  and  which  have  befallen  the  States  from  whence 
came  these  departed  Representatives. 

Men  are  known  by  their  lives,  and  their  labors  furnish  the  best 
evidence  of  their  worth  to  the  communities  from  which  they  came, 
and  the  States  they  represented,  and  the  nation  whose  citizens  they 
were.  The  deeds,  the  labors  of  the  distinguished  departed,  are  to  us 
the  best  evidence  of  their  worth  and  their  value. 

The  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me  in  these  eulogies  have  aptly 
described  the  character  and  the  services  of  him  who  has  gone.  It 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF   FRANK   WELCH.  31 

was  not  my  pleasure  to  be  familiarly  associated  with  him  on  commit- 
tees of  this  House,  or  to  have  any  intimate  social  relation  with  him 
other  than  as  a  fellow-member  on  this  floor.  But  I  regard  it  as  but 
right,  when  death  comes  into  this  Hall,  that  each  member  should 
necessarily  feel  the  bereavement.  Each  of  us  is  reminded  then  there 
will  come  a  time  when  we,  like  our  fallen  comrades,  must  take  our 
departure. 

The  fact  that  the  State  of  Nebraska  had  trusted  Mr.  WELCH  with 
the  care  of  her  interests  in  this  Hall  is  indeed  one  of  the  evidences  of 
his  value  to  that  State  and  his  worth  to  the  people  he  represented. 
The  labors  which  he  performed  upon  the  committees  of  this  House, 
his  deportment  among  his  fellow-members,  are  the  highest  encomi- 
ums that  can  be  paid  to  him  and  his  worth  as  a  Representative  and 
a  citizen. 

The  confidence  which  the  State  of  Nebraska  reposed  in  Mr.  WELCH 
must  indeed  be  to  us  the  best  evidence  of  the  regard  in  which  he  was 
held  at  home,  and  of  his  value  to  the  community  in  which  he  lived, 
of  his  moral  and  social  worth  to  the  State  which  he  had  the  honor  to 
represent  here.  The  best  evidence  of  his  high  value  comes  to  us  from 
the  arduous  labors  in  which  he  was  engaged  and  the  honorable  man- 
ner in  which  he  discharged  all  his  duties. 

Mr.  Speaker,  in  this  Hall  we  all  meet  upon  one  common  level.  I 
therefore  come,  and  I  may  be  pardoned  for  the  allusion,  to  present  on 
this  occasion  the  sympathy  of  a  race  of  men  who  hitherto  have,  had 
but  little  representation  on  this  floor.  I  want  the  nation  to  know 
that  those  with  whom  I  am  identified,  the  constituency  whom  I  rep- 
resent on  this  floor,  feel  a  common  sympathy  with  all  that  affects  the 
interests  of  this  great  country.  No  member  of  this  House  can  be 
smitten  down  by  the  hand  of  death  but  we  partake  of  the  sorrow 
which  his  loss  causes  the  nation. 

When  any  one  State  loses  an  honorable  representative,  the  constit- 
uency that  I  represent  feel  a  common  sympathy  with  that  State  in  its 


32  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    CAIN. 

bereavement.  When  the  nation  suffers  the  loss  of  one  of  its  great 
and  good  men,  we  as  a  part  of  that  nation  claim  the  privilege  of  pay- 
ing our  tribute  of  respect  and  honor  at  the  shrine  of  his  memory. 

Sir,  death  is  the  common  lot  of  all  men;  none  too  high,  none  too 
low  but  must  pass  in  the  same  solemn  train.  It  is  ours  as  statesmen, 
as  citizens,  to  recognize  the  importance  of  this  great  truth ;  that  what- 
ever may  be  the  aspirations  of  men,  whatever  may  be  their  attain- 
ments here  on  earth,  there  must  come  a  time  when  their  earthly  career 
shall  be  cut  short  and  they  shall  be  carried  to  that  bourne  from 
whence  none  may  return. 

Upon  the  altar  of  sorrow  I  come  now  to  pour  out  my  sympathy 
and  the  sympathy  of  those  whom  I  represent.  I  come  to  tender  to 
this  nation  the  sympathy  of  a  heart  that  feels  whatever  loss  this  na- 
tion may  suffer,  whatever  loss  a  State  may  sustain.  We  join  in 
common  with  our  fellow-citizens  in  paying  our  tribute  of  respect  to 
the  memory  of  bim  who  has  gone,  and  of  expressing  our  sympathy 
with  the  State  and  the  nation  in  its  loss,  and  to  implore  the  blessings 
of  Heaven  upon  all  our  common  country. 

The  resolutions  offered  by  Mr.  MAJORS  were  then  agreed  to  unan- 
imously ;  and  in  accordance  therewith  (at  nine  o'clock  and  ten  min- 
utes p.  m.)  the  House  adjourned. 


PROCEEDINGS     IN     THE     SENATE. 


FEBRUARY  22,  1879. 

A  message  from  the  House  of  Representatives  by  Mr.  GEORGE  M. 
ADAMS,  its  Clerk,  communicated  to  the  Senate  the  intelligence  of 
the  death  of  Mr.  FRANK  WELCH,  late  a  member  of  the  House  from 
the  State  of  Nebraska,  and  transmitted  the  resolutions  of  the  House 
thereon.  • 


FEBRUARY  25,  1879. 

Mr.  PADDOCK.  Mr.  President,  I  call  up  the  resolutions  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Hon.  FRANK 
WELCH,  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  PRESIDING  OFFICER.    The  resolutions  will  be  read. 

The  Secretary  read  as  follows: 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

February  21,  1879. 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  profound  regret  of  the 
death  of  Hon.  FRANK  WELCH,  late  a  Representative  from  the  State 
of  Nebraska. 

Resolved,  That  the  House  do  now  suspend  the  consideration  of 
public  business,  in  order  to  pay  proper  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
lamented  deceased. 

Resolved,  That  in  token  of  regard  for  the  memory  of  the  lamented 
deceased  the  members  of  this  House  do  wear  the  usual  badge  of 
mourning  for  thirty  days. 

33 


34  ADDRESS  OF  MR.  PADDOCK  ON  THE 

Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  of  the  House  do  communicate  these 
resolutions  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  out  of  further  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  de- 
ceased this  House  do  now  adjourn. 

Mr.  PADDOCK.     I  send  resolutions  to  the  desk  to  be  read. 

The  PRESIDING  OFFICER.     The  resolutions  will  be  read. 

The  Secretary  read  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  receives  with  sorrow  the  announcement 
of  the  death  of  Hon.  FRANK  WELCH,  late  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  the  State  of  Nebraska,  and  tenders  to  the  family 
and  kindred  of  the  deceased  the  assurance  of  sympathy  under  their 
sad  bereavement.  . 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  be  directed  to  transmit 
to  the  family  of  Mr.  WELCH  a  certified  copy  of  these  resolutions. 


ADDRESS    OF    y\&R.    J^ADDOCK,    OF    J^EBRASKA. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  I  little  thought  when  my  late  colleague  of 
the  House  sat  near  me  here  listening  to  the  eulogies  pronounced 
in  the  memorial  service  for  the  lamented  Morton  that  only  a  few 
months  would  pass  until  I  should  be  summoned  to  speak  in  his 
funeral.  Verily  it  hath  been  truly  written,  "  In  the  midst  of  life 
we  are  in  death."  How  often  during  the  past  year  has  this  solemn 
admonition  come  to  us.  True,  our  own  immediate  brotherhood  has 
been  spared  during  these  later  months,  but  the  shafts  of  death  have 
fallen  thick  and  fast  among  our  brethren  in  the  other  House.  One 
bereavement  has  followed  another  there  in  quick  succession,  until  in 
very  truth  it  hath  become  a  House  of  mourning. 

Mr.  President,  I  shall  not  delay  the  Senate  by  an  extended  memo- 
rabilia of  our  lamented  colleague,  Representative  WELCH.  He  was 
born  on  Bunker  Hill,  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  February  10,  1835; 
was  graduated  at  the  Boston  High  School,  and  afterward  specially 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF    FRANK   WELCH.  35 

educated  and  trained  as  a  civil  engineer.  Soon  after  embarking  in 
his  profession  the  duties  thereof  called  him  into  the  West,  and  finally, 
while  yet  a  very  young  man,  in  the  year  1857,  he  established  his 
home  at  Decatur,  Nebraska.  Mr.  WELCH  was  a  gentleman  in  the 
highest  and  broadest  sense  of  the  term — kind,  gentle,  generous,  manly. 
As  might  naturally  have  been  expected  for  a  young  man  possessing 
such  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  he  rapidly  advanced  to  the  front 
in  society,  and  in  affairs  in  his  county  and  section.  He  was  very 
soon  chosen  to  represent  his  district  in  the  council  or  senate  of  the 
Territorial  Legislature,  and  a  little  later  was  elected  to  the  senate  of 
the  first  Legislature  chosen  under  the  State  organization,  of  which  body 
he  was  made  the  presiding  officer.  He  held  other  positions  of  honor 
and  of  trust  under  both  the  Federal  and  State  Governments,  and  in 
1876  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Forty-fifth  Congress.  He  repre- 
sented the  largest  Congressional  district  in  the  Union,  both  as  respects 
territorial  extent  and  population.  He  was  alone  in  the  other  House 
from  Nebraska — a  State  embracing  an  area  of  seventy-five  thousand 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of  nearly  four  hundred  thousand — a 
comparatively  new  State,  having  innumerable  and  varied  interests 
in  process  of  development,  dependent  largely  upon  Federal  legisla- 
tion and  Federal  executive  administration  for  encouragement  and 
protection. 

There  was  put  upon  him  the  labor  of  three  men,  and  by  day  and 
by  night  unceasingly  he  struggled  through  the  protracted  and  excit- 
ing session  of  last  year  to  do  it  all.  Mr.  WELCH  was  a  man  of  great 
energy,  industry,  and  pertinacity  of  purpose.  He  would  do  all  re- 
quired of  him  although  he  should  know  the  effort  would  cost  him  his 
life ;  he  did  all,  and  as  many  another  before  him  in  like  circum- 
stances had  done,  he  went  prematurely  to  his  grave.  When  the  ses- 
sion closed,  Mr.  WELCH  returned  to  his  constituency  very  much  worn 
and  broken  in  health.  He  needed  rest,  but  he  took  it  not.  At  once 
he  entered  upon  an  active  and  an  exceedingly  laborious  political 


36  ADDRESS   OF    MR.    PADDOCK   ON   THE 

canvass.  His  physical  machinery  could  not  endure  the  additional 
strain  thus  put  upon  it,  and  then  the  end  came,  soon  and  swift  but 
pangless.  In  the  evening  of  the  4th  day  of  September,  1878,  in  a 
public  meeting,  in  the  midst  of  a  numerous  audience,  composed 
largely  of  his  political  friends  and  admirers  whom  he  was  about  to 
address,  he  was  suddenly  stricken  and  fell  in  instant  death.  His 
family — a  fortd  mother,  a  devoted  wife,  and  three  loving  children — 
were  absent  in  a  distant  Eastern  State,  and  no  other  of  his  kindred 
was  present  to  close  the  eyes  of  him  who  thus  in  the  prime  of  his 
manhood  went  down  under  a  weight  of  life's  burdens  too  heavy  to 
be  longer  borne. 

Mr.  WELCH'S  re-election  was  assured,  and  but  for  the  failure  of 
health  resulting  in  his  premature  death,  a  career  of  continually  in- 
creasing honor  and  usefulness  would  surely  have  been  his.  As  a 
Representative  he  was  honest,  sagacious,  and  faithful  to  his  convic- 
tions. In  his  relations  with  his  constituency  he  was  just,  fair,  and 
impartial  toward  all  parties,  factions,  interests,  and  sections.  As  a 
colleague  he  was  kind,  generous,  and  considerate.  I  had  known 
Mr.  WELCH  intimately  during  all  his  Nebraska  life — nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century — and  I  have  the  warrant  that  genuine  friendship  gives 
to  speak  of  him.  Standing  before  the  bier  upon  which  reposed  his 
mortal  remains,  surrounded  by  his  grief-stricken  neighbors  and  friends, 
I  declared  in  the  sad  ceremonial  whence  his  body  was  born  to  its 
final  resting-place,  that  during  all  these  years  of  our  intimacy  FRANK 
WELCH  had  never  to  my  knowledge,  been  guilty  of  an  unkind,  an 
ungenerous,  an  unmanly  act.  That  declaration,  sir,  I  here  repeat. 
He  scorned  the  low  pursuits  of  malice.  The  ignoble  sentiments  of 
hatred  and  revenge  found  no  lodgment  in  his  breast,  and  moved  him 
not  even  to  retaliation  for  injuries,  real  or  imaginary;  while  on  the 
other  hand  every  service,  however  difficult,  every  sacrifice,  however 
painful,  was  cheerfully  endured  by  him  for  the  advancement,  the 
protection  of  the  interests  of  his  friends. 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF    FRANK   WELCH.  37 

Such  a  man  was  FRANK  WELCH,  and  such,  sir,  is  the  measure  ot 
our  loss. 

Mr.  President,  it  was  with  no  "  hollow  circumstance  of  woes,"  but 
as  one  sorrows  for  a  brother  lost,  as  a  family  in  sackcloth  mourns 
when  the  insatiate  archer  entering  its  charmed  circle  selects  for  his 
victim  the  favorite  of  the  flock,  that  we,  each  and  all,  in  the  State  he 
had  loved  so  well  and  served  so  faithfully,  did  say  peace  and  farewell 
to  his  ashes.  At  length  they  bore  him  from  us,  and  now  his  ashes 
mingle  with  the  soil  of  Massachusetts.  To  us,  sir,  who  loved  FRANK 
WELCH,  and  we  all  did  love  him;  to  us  who  labored  with  him  from 
the  smallest  beginnings  in  the  territorial  time  to  the  days  of  stalwart 
statehood  for  Nebraska,  there  is  indeed  left  the  bright  record  of  his 
honorable  citizenship,  the  proud  monuments  of  his  public  service, 
the  sweet  memory  of  his  personal  graces,  and  of  his  frank  and  gen- 
erous nature,  the  valued  example  of  his  earnest  life ;  and  these,  sir, 
shall  be  ours  evermore.  Remembering  this,  sir,  with  such  cheerful- 
ness and  resignation  as  we  could  command,  we  responded  to  the 
appeal  of  maternal  affection  and  returned  to  Massachusetts  the  mor- 
tal casket — broken  and  useless  to  be  sure — which  once  had  held  this 
priceless  jewel.  On  behalf  of  the  young  State  whose  institutions 
FRANK  WELCH  helped  to  mould,  I  send  greetings  and  grateful  ac- 
knowledgments to  Massachusetts  for  the  valued  services  of  this  her 
son  in  our  upbuilding.  But  remember,  Senators  of  that  grand  old 
commonwealth,  his  ashes  are  ours  as  well  as  yours.  You  received 
them  from  us  with  our  love  and  orrr  tears ;  you  gave  them  honored 
sepulture.  Now  guard  them  well,  we  pray  you ;  for  when  the  last 
trump  shall  sound,  and  they  who  died  for  liberty  on  Bunker  Hill  and 
the  other  patriots  buried  there  shall  then  in  glad  obedience,  come 
forth,  no  nobler  spirit  will  appear  than  his  whose  life,  commencing 
in  that  historic  place,  was  mainly  given  to  the  work  of  development 
and  civilization  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  free  and 
prosperous  commonwealth  in  the  distant  West,  where  only  a  little 


38  ADDRESS  OF  MR.  SAUNDERS  ON  THE 

time  before  the  Indian,  undisturbed,  "  pursued  the  panting  deer,"  and 
"the  wild  fox  dug  his  hole  unscared,"  in  a  land  where  no  white  man 
had  ever  dwelt  and  the  arts  of  peace  were  unknown. 


ADDRESS  OF  yV5.R.   ^AUNDERS,  OF  J^EBRASKA. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  My  colleague  has  left  but  little,  if  anything,  for 
me  to  say  in  reference  to  the  life  and  death  of  our  late  associate, 
Hon.  FRANK  WELCH.  His  personal  acquaintance  with  the  deceased 
was  longer  and  perhaps  more  intimate  than  mine,  and  especially 
prior  to  his  entering  upon  his  official  duties  as  a  Representative  in 
Congress;  I  therefore  left  it  to  my  colleague  to  give,  as  he  has  so 
tully  and  well  done — more  ably  than  1  could  do — more  of  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  early  business  life  and  of  the  early  trials  and  triumphs 
of  our  late  friend.  I  had  known  Mr.  WELCH  about  seventeen  years; 
and  from  the  time  of  his  election  to  the  House  to  the  time  of  his 
death  I  was  on  intimate  terms  with  him,  an'd  was  strongly  impressed 
with  his  uniformly  amiable  disposition,  kindness  of  heart,  courteous 
demeanor,  and  his  unfaltering  fidelity  to  his  public  trusts. 

He  was  possessed  of  a  warm,  genial  nature  and  an  unrestricted 
flow  of  friendship  for  his  fellow-man,  which  secured  for  him  in  life  a 
popularity  truly  enviable.  And  now  that  an  early  grave  has  closed 
over  him,  the  people  of  our  entire  commonwealth  mourn  over  his 
departure  as  though  it  were  that^t  some  near  and  dear  relative. 

The  good  and  generous  qualities  of  our  human  nature  were  blended 
in  his  character.  He  was  resolute,  courageous,  and  ardent  in  all  of 
his  pursuits.  Unaided  and  alone  he  obtained  place,  and  indeed  was 
the  architect  of  his  own  fortune.  He  came  to  Nebraska  long  before 
it  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  and  at  once  took  part  in 
giving  shape  to  her  public  institutions  and  in  preparing  the  Territory 
for  the  responsible  position  she  was  soon  to  occupy  as  one  of  the  inde- 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF    FRANK   WELCH.  39 

pendent  States  of  the  Union.  He  represented  his  district  for  several 
sessions  in  the  Territorial  and  State  legislatures,  and  afterward  held 
the  arduous  and  responsible  position  of  register  of  one  of  the  United 
States  land  offices  in  Nebraska.  Elected  to  Congress  in  the  fall  of 
1876  and  dying  before  his  term  of  service  had  expired,  he  was  thus 
prematurely  prevented  from  filling  the  measure  of  his  own  aspirations 
and  the  hopes  of  the  people  who  had  confided  in  him  their  trusts. 

There  was  much  in  the  active  life  of  Mr.  WELCH  that  might  well 
be  emulated  by  the  youth  of  our  country,  and  which  illustrates  the 
adaptability  of  our  republican  institutions  to  the  development  of 
genius  and  the  noble  ambitions  and  high  aspirations  of  men  when 
directed  in  the  interests  and  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men.  At 
the  early  age  of  twenty-two  he  left  his  New  England  home  and,  fol- 
lowing "  the  star  of  empire  "  with  the  compass  and  chain  of  the  en- 
gineer, settled  in  Nebraska.  And  with  an  indomitable  physical  and 
intellectual  energy,  directed  by  great  good  sense  and  tempered  with 
justice  to  all  men,  we  have  seen  him  rise  from  place  to  position  until 
he  stood  an  honored  and  useful  member  of  Congress  at  large  from 
the  State  of  his  adoption.  To  what  higher  eminence  he  might  have 
attained  in  his  brilliant  career  had  he  not  been  cut  down  in  the  bloom 
of  manhood  we  can  well  imagine  by  the  strong  personal  force  with 
which  he  conquered  success  and  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was 
held  by  the  people  of  his  State. 

He  was  strong  in  his  convictions  of  right,  and  a  decided  party  man, 
but  there  was  a  kindness  and  beritgnity  about  him  that  like  polished 
armor  turned  aside  all  feelings  of  ill-will  or  animosity,  and  tended  to 
disarm  his  opponents  and  turn  them  into  friends. 

It  is  a  phase  in  our  political  character — a  phase  to  be  lamented  and 
deprecated — for  party  antagonism  to  assail  the  private  character  and 
misrepresent  the  public  acts  of  an  official,  and  especially  is  this  def- 
amation unguarded  and  severe  in  the  excitement  and  heat  of  a  polit- 
ical campaign.  .There  are  but  few  men  in  public  position,  however 


40  ADDRESS    OF    MR.    SAUNDERS   ON    THE 

chaste  their  lives,  however  pure  their  intentions,  however  disinter- 
ested their  acts,  who  have  not  had  hurled  at  them  the  poisoned  arrows 
of  partisan  rancor.  But  the  manly  and  generous  qualities  of  our 
deceased  friend  were  a  shield  to  his  character,  and  whatever  may 
have  been  said  against  him  in  the  heat  of  partisan  anger  was  never 
cherished  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  may  have  thus  hastily  spoken. 

His  political  course  was  short  and  successful ;  labor  and  not  words 
was  what  he  relied  upon  for  success;  and  no  person,  of  whatever  party, 
or  hovrever  much  they  may  have  differed  with  him  in  opinion,  ever 
doubted  his  intentions  or  failed  to  admire  his  fidelity  to  his  party  and 
his  friends.  His  zeal  in  the  performance  of  his  duty  kept  him  steadily 
at  his  post;  and  no  movement,  either  of  order  or  business,  failed  to 
attract  his  attention. 

He  was  the  first  and  only  one  of  those  who  have  been  honored 
with  a  seat  in  the  national  council  from  the  State  of  Nebraska  who 
has  departed  hence  for  a  world  of  peace;  and  yet  he  was  the  young- 
est of  them  all.  He  was  cut  down  in  the  bloom  and  prime  of  his 
manhood,  in  the  full  possession  of  his  intellectual  powers,  and  has 
passed  to  that  shadowy  land  from  whence  there  is  no  return. 

Mr.  President,  the  record  of  the  tomb  is  fast  filling  up  with  illustri- 
ous names.  In  the  providence  of  an  all-wise  God  a  number  of  victims 
greater  than  is  usual  have  been  snatched  by  the  hand  of  the  dread 
destroyer  from  the  councils  of  the  nation  during  the  present  Congress. 
In  the  course  of  a  very  short  service  in  this  Chamber  it  has  been  my 
sad  experience  to  witness  with  sympathizing  sorrow  an  unusual  num- 
ber of  occasions  of  this  character,  in  memory  of  the  departure  of  re- 
spected members  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress. 

How  impressively  sad  this  warning,  reminding  us  of  the  mutability 
of  human  life,  of  how  powerless  the  earthly  hands  of  love  to  save, 
and  verifying  in  this  case  the  saying  that  "  in  the  midst  of  life  we  are 
in  death"!  Let  these  frequent  admonitions,  so  solemn  and  awful, 
find  a  deep  place  in  our  hearts  who  yet  remain  behind. 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF    FRANK   WELCH.  41 

Our  late  associate  has  gone  hence,  sir,  but  his  memory  will  survive, 
embalmed  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  knew  him  and  appreciated  his 
manly  qualities.  He  died,  as  he  lived,  deserving  and  possessing  the 
warm-hearted  esteem  of  many  and  the  ill-will,  I  trust,  of  none.  In 
private  life  in  the  State  in  which  he  lived  he  was  respected,  confided 
in,  and  beloved  to  a  very  remarkable  degree;  and  I  have  never  wit- 
nessed a  community  apparently  more  deeply  impressed  by  the  death 
of  one  of  its  number  than  in  the  exhibition  of  sorrow  over  the  death 
of  our  deceased  associate. 

The  integrity  of  his  character,  the  soundness  of  his  judgment,  and 
the  kindness  of  his  heart  were  well  attested  by  the  confidence  and 
affection  bestowed  upon  him  in  his  life  and  the  intense  sorrow  with 
which  his  untimely  death  was  deplored. 

Let  us  commend  the  heart-stricken  widow,  the  fatherless  children, 
and  the  bereaved  relatives  and  friends  to  the  tender  mercies  and 
teachings  of  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well,  and  who  alone  can  heal 
the  bruised  heart  and  calm  the  whirlwind  of  grief  in  the  afflicted 
soul. 

The  PRESIDING  OFFICER.  The  question  is  on  agreeing  to  the  res- 
olutions proposed  by  the  Senator  from  Nebraska  [Mr.  PADDOCK], 

The  resolutions  were  agreed  to  unanimously. 

Mr.  SAUNDERS.  As  a  further  mark  of  respect  to  the  deceased  I 
move  that  the  Senate  do  now  adjourn. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to;  and  (at  five  o'clock  and  thirty-eight 
minutes  p.  m.)  the  Senate  adjourned. 


6  w 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9-50m-9,'60(B3610s4)444 


U.S. 


Cong. 


3d  sess.,   1878- 
1879  - 


Memorial   addresses  on 
life  and  character  of 


Frame  vTeicn 


D    000704798    8 


